List of Most Desired High-End Gadgets of 2012 [SLIDESHOW]

The idea of technology has become, perhaps, ridiculously pervasive in today's world. The large numbers of cool and path-breaking gadgets available in the markets today reflect not only a clever bent of design, innovation and aesthetics from the world's engineers but also a desire to push out and discover more and more uses for tech. Top manufacturers are identified as those who are willing to take the plunge and produce something different, creative and innovative.

IBTimes UK brings a top ten list of just some of the coolest gadgets for the year

Nikon D800 D-SLR

The Nikon Corporation's D800 Digital SLR Camera, which offers the world's highest pixel count of 36.3-million pixels, must surely find a place in any list such as this. The camera comes with the latest EXPEED 3-image processing engine as well as Advanced Scene Recognition System with a 91,000-pixel RGB sensor.

What all this means is that a professional photographer can now obtain images of absolutely the highest quality... and an amateur shutterbug could give him serious competition.

The EXPEED 3-image processing technology will minimise the colour phase shifts, generating more faithful colours and tones. The camera is also equipped with all the latest tech wizardry, including multi-area mode Full HD D-Movie, which allows for the recording of home movies by using either the FX-based or DX-based formats.

Sony Xperia Play

The Sony Xperia Play is a potentially brilliant combination of an Android smartphone and a handheld gaming console. It boasts of true-life gaming keys, including shoulder buttons and a joystick. In addition, the gamer can now enjoy games with realistic stereo sound. The device enables 3D graphics as well as multiplayer capability. The 4-inch device contains a 16 million colour touchscreen. It is powered by the Snapdragon graphic processor.

NOOK Simple Touch

The NOOK Simple Touch e-reader includes the E-Ink display which offers the best reading conditions, even in bright sunlight. The ultra-light gadget comes with a 6-inch touchscreen and provides quick page turns, faster browsing and, most interestingly, the ability to download books via Wi-Fi, in just a few seconds. The battery charge is apparently enough to let you read books, over two months, on just a single charge.

Canon EOS 5D Mark III D-SLR Camera

On 2 March, Canon announced its Canon EOS 5D Mark III Digital SLR Camera. It boasts of a special optical technology which includes a 61-Point High Density Reticular AF. It has a 22.3 megapixel full-frame Canon CMOS sensor and Canon DIGIC 5+ Image Processor. In addition, the gadget comes with an Intelligent Viewfinder, enhanced iFCL metering system and High Dynamic Mode (HDR).

Panasonic Eluga

The Panasonic Eluga is waterproof and dustproof smartphone which runs on the Android Gingerbread operating system. The device has an eight megapixel AutoFocus camera which features digital zoom and image stabilisation. It has a 1150mAh standard battery which allows a stand by time of up to 300 hours as well as talk time of up to 240 minutes.

Sony Network Media Player and Blue Ray Disc Player

On 10 January, Sony Corporation announced its Network Media Player "NSZ-GS7" and Blue-Ray Disc Player "NSZ-GP9" both powered by Google TV. The devices can be connected to their television via a HDMI cable. It is equipped with the latest remote control, which includes a touch pad, full keyboard with back light, microphone for voice search and 3-axis motion sensor.

Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1

The Galaxy Note 10.1 offers a multi-screen functionality which facilitates better multitasking and the simultaneous viewing of two Internet pages or apps. The smartphone runs on Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and has a three megapixel rear-facing camera with AutoFocus and LED flash. It also has a two megapixel secondary camera for video chats. It is powered by a 1.4 GHz dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM and an Exynos chipset. It comes in three models - with internal storage options of 16/32/64GB, as well as a microSD slot for expansion up to 32GB.

Now that you are up to date on the latest gadgets, start the slideshow to find out more about each product...